Giant rolls.



Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Inventar Attorneys T. A. EDISON.

GIANT ROLLS. Y ARPLIGATION FILED @11.13, 190s.

Patented Jan. 16, 1912'.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor Witnesses Attorneys T. A. EDIS.

GIANT `110111. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13, 1903.

Patented Jan.16, 191.2.`

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

lWitnesses: Inventor Attorneys T. A. EDISON.

GIANT Ro'LLs.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13, 1903.

Patented Jan. 16,1912.

4 SHEETB-SHEET-4.

Inventar tors may obviously be employed. Owing to UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

`THOMAS A. EDISON, 0F LLEWELLYN PAR-K, ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

GIANT ROLLS.

To all whom t may cocern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. EDISON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Llewellyn Park, Orange, in the county of i 5 Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Giant Rolls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements *iny giant rolls of the type coveredby my patents' of April 23rd, 1901, numbered 672,616 and 672,617 respectively, in which two rolls of great weightare employed driven independently in opposite directions, with means for feeding charges of rock periodically yto the gap between the rolls, whereby the rock is broken by kinetic energy, and my object is to improve the construction and increase the eliiciency of-apparatus ofthis type..

The present improvements have been designed especially for the purpose of breaking limestone and cement rock for use. in the i. manufacture of Portland cement, but obviously the apparatus can be utilized in other arts and for the treatment .of other materials in bulk,such as ironore for example. l

. The present improvements relate, in the first place, to the driving of the rolls by small independent motors which are connected preferably directly to the' shafts of the rolls. These motors rare preferably steam-engines of relatively low power, since when the rolls are once started they can be veryeasily driven, but electric or other mothe smallsize of the driving motors, the sudden reduction in the speed of the rolls which takes' place when each charge of rock 40 is being acted upon will not injuriously affectthe motors, but the latter will immediately respond when the charge has passed through, to accelerate the rolls to their normal surface speed. This makes a very simple, effective and cheap construction, and does away entirely with the necessity of frictional driving mechanlsm or other di'erential connection between the rolls, as heretof to improvements in the mechanism for effore employed. I

The invention relates, in the second place, to improvements in devices for t feeding to crushing rolls the respective charges from the giant or rock-breaking trolls.. If the charges Specification of Letters Patent.

'ered from the giant rolls and feedingvthe same continuously Ito the crushing or grinding rolls. The invention provides for an arrangement of this character which is capable of o erating under conditions of the l'ghest e ciency. f

The invention relates, in the third place, to improvements in roller-feed mechanisms adapted especially for use intermediate of the giantand crushing rolls, and by means of which clogging or bridging ofthe material is entirely prevented. I find in practice that if material in large 'quantitles yis delivered to a-hopper provided with rollerfeed devices, the material tends to become clogged in the neck of the hopper immediately above the roller-feed, and this is especially true if the material is at all damp. By the present improvements, such a posibility is entirely overcome.

The improvements relate, in the fourth place, to a new arrangement of breaking plates for use with giant rolls, by which the plates are greatly strengthened and shearing strains imposed in actual use are effectively resisted, while at the same time cost of manufacture is reduced.

The invention relates, in the fifth place, to the use of a roller-feed mechanism above the giant rolls, provided -with meansby which 1t may be stopped or started at will. In this way, material is `effectively delivered to the rolls, while at the same time the attendant can regulate "the feed, so as to stop the supy Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

Application tiled January 13, 1903. Serial No. 138,813. f

ply of material when any very large pieces v of rock are being' crushed, and thus prevent the possibility of the rolls becoming'overloaded.

The invention relates, in the sixth place,

ments in the details of construction and arrangement, all as will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that `the invention may be better understood, attention is directed to the ac.

companying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which'- Figure I1 is a Iside elev-ation of the improved rock-breaking apparatus in its preferred form; Fig. 2, a vertical sectional view; Fig. 3, a plan View showing particularly the skip-handling mechanism; Fig. 4,

a rear view of the same, showing also the giant rolls; Fig. 5, a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through one of the rolls, showing .the preferred arrangement [and form ofwearing plates.; and Fig. 6, a

detail view illustrating the mechanism for driving and controlling the roller-feed above the giant rolls.

In all of the above views, corresponding i parts are represented by thesame numerals blocks 4, 4, are rigidly'connected together by tie-bolts 6, andthe gap between the rolls is regulated by a spacing block 7 placed between the pillow-blocks. The-motors 5, 5, are connected to and are adjustable longitudinally with the pillow-blocks, so that the relation between the motors and the rolls vremains unchanged irrespective of the adjustment of the rolls to vary the width of the gap. As shown, each of the giant rolls conslsts of a heavy solid corev carrying removable wearing plates 8v having projections on their outer faces.. 4These plates are held in position lby tap-bolts 9 and are formed with ribs or shoulders. 10 fitting in recesses in the core of theroll, so that these shoulders receive the shearing strains .which are imposed on the plates inuse and relieve the tap-bolts of' those strains. .Preferably the plates are provided with flat. bottoms on account of'cheapness of construction and finishing, instead of being rounded or con-4 caved as heretofore, and the core is provided with flatfaces for receiving the plates` instead of being truly cylindric. The rib 10 on each, plate is formed near .its rearedge (as determined by the direction of rotation) so that'the strains imposed on the lates -are received directly on the ribs. I on .the contrary, the ribs were formed on the plates near ltheir forward edges, -thestrains. encountered in practice would tend to raise l i Mounted above the `casing 11, through which falls the material the ribs out of the recesses, without properly receiving the thrust. Obviously, theptendency of the plates to be stripped oif is resisted by the tap-bolts 9.

iant rolls is a heavy to be operated upon. At the top of this casing at one side is a roller-feed 12 operated by 'a motor 13 illustrated as a'n electric motor.

This .motor drives a counter-shaft 14 through gearing 15, and the counter-shaft drives the roller-feed 12 by a worm 16 on the shaft of the roller-feed. The countershaft v14 is provided With a clutch 17, operated by a lever 18, and of any approved form, and by means of which the worm may be stopped and started `at `will to provide for a similar control of the roller-feed. The rock to be broken is contained in skips 19l carried on flat cars running on suitable tracks. Each skip is formed with an eye 20 at its rear end, with which a hook 21 is adapted to engage, the hook being flexibly' connected to a cable 22 carrying a weight 23 at its lower end, running over pulleys 24,` 24, and extending around a winding-drum 25. This winding-drum is operated by suitable gearing from a motor 26, shown as an electric motor. The run ofthe cable 22 between the pulleys 24, 24, is so disposed that when the winding-drum is operated the hook will automatically engage the eye 20 on the skip, sliding the skip oif of the car along the platform 27, until its forward end engages a projection immediately behind the roller-feed 12 and tilting the skip to the position shown in dotted lines (Fig. 1), so as to discharge its contents onto the rollerfeed.- The table 27 is made preferably of polished chilled iron, so that the skip will slide freely over the same in the unloading operation. v v v Below the giant rolls, I form a hopper 28 having a roller-feed 29 o erated 1n any suitable way and movable inthe direction of the arrow. n This roller-feed is located at the bottom of the discharge from the hop. per 28, and at the other side of the discharge therefrom I mount a roller 80 whose function is to prevent the material from clogging or bridging within the hopper. It V will, ofcourse, be understood that instead of the roller 30 any other moving device can be employed for the same purpose, as, for instance, a vibrating surface, similar to a shaking grate. The roller 30 turns in the ysame direction as the roller-feed 29 and may be operated from the latter by a belt 3l. A casing 32 is arranged beyond the roller-feed 29 and may be provided with a hinged lid12i 33, by which its interior may be reached.

`Below the casing I show a pair of crushing or grinding rolls 34. of any suitable type,dis' charging into ahopper 35.

In operation the'motors 5 independently 130 drivethe giantrolls at a high surface velocity, so that the .rolls act practicallyasenormously heavy fly-wheels. The crushing rolls 34-are^operated from any suitable source of power, the Vroller-feed V29 and roller 30 are also continuously operated, and `the roller feed 12 is operated from the motor 13. A loaded Acar is .now moved up on the track opposite theroller-feed 12 and the motor 26 is started,winding the cable 22 upward, engaging the hook 21 with the eye 20 on the skip, sliding the skip sidewise until its' forward end engages the projection at the front of the table 27, and then tilting the skip upward s o that its contents are discharged onto the roller-feed. By means of the latter the material is projected# into the casing 11 and falls into the gap between the .I giant rolls. This ,charge ofrock will be operated upon by the rolls, and by reason of the enormous momentum A thereof will be forced between the gap, beingvbroken andkr by Letters Patent lis as follows f 1. In `rock-breaking a paratus of the character described, the. comb of rolls sufliciently massive to break the rock crushed in its discharge, as I describe in the patents above referred to. The passage of the rock' between the giant rolls acts to almost instantaneously reduce the speed of the latter, but owing to the small .size of the when running at normal speed, of a pair of operating motors 5 these motors accommodate themselves to the changesI in speed without injury and when the charge has passed through exert their power to again accelerate the speed of the rolls, so that by the time another charge of rock is presented to the same the rollswill' acquire their normal high surface velocity. If a very large piece lof rock is being acted upon by the o rolls, and the attendant observes that another piece is about to pass the roller-feed 12 to thereby tend to overload the rolls, the clutch lever 18 may be operated to stop the rollerfeed until the charge has passed through; whereupon the roller-feedis again started and more material fed o ut'of the versed, lor if the weight 23 is of sufficient mass power is simply cut olf from the motor 26 so that the descent of the weight will reverse the motor, returning the skip to its original position and automatically disengaging the hook from the eye, so that a loaded carcan be moved in place and the unloading operations repeated. The broken material from the giant rolls is discharged in the hopper 28 and from the latter con- 1tinuously fed from the rollerlfeed29 to the crushing or grinding rolls 345,'byvwhich a further reduction -of the material is effected.

I find that by employing the rroller 30, co# operating with' the roller-feed, material is the hopper, and particularly if the material was at all dam I d0' not claim herein the improvements relating to means forunloading skips and dumping the same hereinbefore described,

but I claim the said improvements in a di f vtsional application hereof, `Serial No.

663,399, led December 1, 1911. v Having now described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure mation with a pair by changes in the kinetic energy thereof motors, each ofy power sulicient to bring its roll upto normal speed when running freely, but insuilicient to break the rock by the direct applic'atiomof the power, and positive connections'whereby one motor drives one roll, and the other motor drives the'other roll, substantiall as set forth.

2. In rock-brea ing apparatus ofthe character described, the combination with' a pair of rolls suiciently massive to break the rock by .changes in .the kinetic energy thereof when running at normal speed, and rotating in opposite directions with a gap between them, of a pair of motors, each of power suiicient to bring itsroll up to normal speed when running freely, but insuiiicient to break the rock by the direct application of the power,and` positive connections where- -by one motordrives one roll and the other motor drives the other roll, and means for adjusting said rolls to change the width of v the gap, substantially as set forth.

3. .In rock-breaking. apparatus of theA character described, the combination with a pair of rolls sufficiently massive to break the rock by 4changes in the kinetic energy thereof when running at normal speed, said rolls rotating in opposite directions with a gap between them, of amotor connected directly and positively with the shaft of each roll for rotating the same, each said motor being of power sufficient to bring its rollup to normal 4speed when running freely, but insufficient to break the rock by the direct applicationv of the power, substantially as set forth.

4; In a rock-breaking apparatus of the sov ico

class described, the combination with a p air of massive rolls rotating in opposite directions with a gap` between them, and means for rotating said rolls, said means being of sufficient power to bring the rolls up to normal working speed 'when running freely, but being insuflicient to break" the rock by the direct application of power, of a roller-feed for delivering material to the ap between the rolls, and means for starting and stopping said roller feed independently of the position of the rolls, substantially as set forth.

5. In a rock-breaking apparatus of the class described, theA combination with a pair of massive .rolls rotating in opposite diirections with a gap bet-Ween them, of pillowblocks in which said rolls are mounted, one or bothof which are adjustable for varying the width. of the gap, and independent motors carried b the pillow-blocks for independently driving said rolls, substantially as set forth.

6. In rock-breaking and crushing apparatus the combination of a pair of massive reaking rolls operating by changes of kinetic energy -to effect a'first reduction,

\ means for supplying charges of material intermittently to the same, a pair of continuously operating crushing rolls beneath the same, and a hopper between the two sets of rolls, said hopper having an outlet adapted to deliver material toAt-he crushing lrolls in a continuous stream and its capacity being sufficient to enable it to maintain its normal discharge rate during the intervals .when the breaking rolls are gaining kinetic energy, substantially as set forth.

7.-In rock-breaking and crushing apparatus, the combination with a pair of massive breaking rolls rotating in opposite directions with a gap between them ando erating by changes of kinetic energy to e ect a first reduction, means' for su plying mareceiving the material delivere terial intermittently to said rol s and means for driving said rolls, of crushin rolls for by the breaking rolls, and means independent of the breaking and crushin rolls adapted to receive material from the deliver it vto the crushing rolls in a continnous stream, said means having storage capacity suiiicient to enable it to maintain its normal discharge rate during the intervals when ,the breakin rolls are 'gaining kinetic' energy, substantia ly as set forth.

8. In a rock-breakin and crushing apparatus of the class described, the combination with a pair of massive rolls rotating in opposite direct-ions ywith a gap between them, means for supplying material intermittently to said rolls, and means for driving said rolls, of crushing rolls for receiving the material delivered by the breaking rolls, and means comprising a roller-feedl independent said roller, substantiall as set forth.

reaking rolls and of the breaking and crushing rolls for feeding in a continuous stream tothe crushing rolls material intermittently delivered from the breaking rolls when operating at or nearthe breaking rolls for receiving the material delivered from the breaking rolls, a hopper at 4between the two sets of rolls, a roller-fee one side -of the discharge from said hopper for continuousl feeding to the crushing rolls the material intermittently delivered from the breaking rolls, and a continuously moving device at the other side of the discharge and 'coperating therewith for preventing bridging of material above the roller-feed, as and for the purposes set 10. -In rock-breaking apparatus .of the class described, the combination with a pair of massive rolls rotating in opposite directions with a gap between them, and means for driving said rolls, of a hopper beneath said rolls having a roller feed, the capacities of the rolls, hopper and roller feed being so proportioned that intermittent charges of material fed to the rolls when operating at or near their full capacity will be fedfrom the hopper in a continuousY stream, andan independent roller coperating with the roller feed and driven in the same direction for prevent-ing bridging of the material, the

material passing between the roller feed and 11. In apparatus of t e class described for lbreaking rock, the' combination with a pair of massive r'olls rotatingin opposite directionsv with a gap between them, and means for driving said rolls, of a hopper below the breaking rolls, a yroller feed at one side-of the discharge from the hopper, and a roller at the other side of the discharge from the hopper rotating in the same-direction as the roller-feed, as and fortlie purposes set fort-h.

12. In rock-breaking apparatus of. theI class described, the combination with a pair of rolls having a gap between them and suiiiciently lmassive to break the-rock by changes in. the kinetic' energy thereof, and

means' for bringing said rolls up to high speed between rock-breaking intervals whereby kinetic energy is stored up, of a roller feed for delivering material tothe gap between the rolls, and means for starting and stopping said roller feed at the will of the operator independently of the position of the rolls, substantially as set forth..

13. In apparatus for breaking rock by kinetic energy, the combination of a pair of 35 disconnected disconnectedI rolls havinf roughened or irregular surfaces and su ciently masslve to break rock by changes in the kinetic energy thereof when running at normal speed, a

pair of motors, and connections whereby one .motor drives one vroll and the other motor drivesthe other roll, the power of each motor being suicient to bring its roll up to normal speed ywhen startedtrom a state of rest and when no rockis in the rolls, but insuiicient to break the rock by the direct application of the power, substantially as described.

14. In apparatus for breaking rock kinetic energy, the combination of a pair'of .roughened 0r, ir"

disconnected rolls havin regular surfaces and su ciently massiveto break rock by changes in the kinetic energy thereof when running at normal speed,` a

pair of motors, connections whereby one mo tor drives one roll and the other' motor drives the other roll, the power of each motor being sufficient to bring its roll uptoA normal speedl when started from a state of' rest and when no rock is in-.the rolls, but insutlicient to break the rock bythe directapplication of the power, and means for periodically delivering charges of rock to such rolls at suflclently infrequent intervals to permit the rolls to recover suiicient speed the rolls for catching the rock and subject- .40 ing it to a rolling action, larger and higher knobs on one of the rolls for sledging large 16. In apparatus for lv`v.kinetic ener y,fthe combination ofa pair of rolls sufficiently massive to 5.6 break rock by changes in the kinetic ener running` at normal speed,-

pieces o f rock and reducing them to a size small enough, to be subjected to the rolling action, a"`pair of motors and connections whereby one motor drives one rolland the other motor drives the other roll, the power of each motor being suiicientto bringt its roll up lto normal speed when started om a state qi rest and when no rock is in the rolls, bu't'insuiiicient to break the rock by the 50 direct application of the power, substantially as described.

breaking rock by disconnecte thereof when running at normal spee knobs of substantially uniform height on the rolls for catching the rock and subjecting it to a rolling action, larger and higher knobs on one of the rolls fonsledging large pieces of rock and reducing them to a size small enough to be subjected to the rolling action, a pair of motors, connections wherel by one motor drivesjone roll and the other 65 motor drives the other roll, the power of each motor being sufficient tol bring itsroll up to normal speed when started from a state of rest and when no rock is in the rolls,

but insuiii'cient to break the rock by the di- 70 rectaJ plication of the power, and means fort perio lcally delivering charges of rock to such rolls at suiiciently infrequent intervals .to permitthe rolls to recover suflicient speed to effect the successive breaking operation,

substantially asdescribed.

This specification signed' and witnessed this 18 day of Dec. 1902.

THOMAS A. EDISON. `Witnesses: v FRANK LfDYrm,

JN0. Ro'r. TAYLOR. 

